Creating Karma
posted October 16, 2009 1:37 PM
What did anyone ever do to deserve this?
Almost immediately, there are warning signs that Creating Karma will not go well. A bit player with some throwaway lines in one of the first shots is framed so his gift-shop joke T-shirt is prominently displayed. A couple of minutes later, a major joke actually trots out funny-nose glasses, and shortly thereafter a scene plays out in fast-forward for comedic effect. And these are just the jokes; this is a film that fails on several technical levels as well. Yet, the most depressing thing about Creating Karma isn't just that it's one of the worst movies I've ever seen, but that it seems to think it's doing us a favor. The film puts emphasis on the fact that co-star/writer/director Jill Wisoff and co-star/writer Carol Lee Sirugo wrote the movie themselves to create roles for funny women (something both men and women can no doubt support), but the final product is so bad it's more likely to cause its intended audience to swear off comedy than to demand more.
The vague, half-existent plot focuses on uptight, upper-class Karma (Sirugo), aka Ivana, who takes considerable pride in her affluent lifestyle and dignified upbringing. At her father's funeral, however, she encounters her estranged sister Callie (Wisoff), who reveals that Karma's mother was actually a swinging hippie in the 70's who went by the nickname "Lollipop Fields." Learning this puts a damper on her self-image of refinement and shortly thereafter Ivana gets fired from her fashion mag job and evicted from her apartment. With nowhere else to go, she tracks down her late father's band mate Rajah (Roland Sands), seeking financial help. Instead, he advises her to try to bond with her crazy sibling.
Even ignoring the problems in the film's execution, Karma's journey is just as riddled with issues on the page. Karma's vices are shopping and coffee, whereas Callie's are promiscuity and a lack of boundaries. No one of the sisters appears to be better off than the other, and it's ridiculous for the movie to imply that rich CEOs can't be spiritual and that bohemians can't be shallow. I'm also not sure when tea became a key solution to all of life's problems.
Then again, those shallow stereotypes are nothing compared to the wild mixed-message the movie's side characters send to the viewer. On her first day searching for a new job Karma goes to a coffee bar in Callie's neighborhood, and instead of it proving to be, say, surprisingly appealing (since one expects Karma will eventually come to like it), barista Vincent (Rahad Coulter-Stevenson) is insulting when she tries to order a cappuccino, a patron steals her wallet and the guy on the all-day open-mic stage takes his shirt off and recites an awkward, sexual poem. It doesn't paint a positive picture of the life Callie wants Karma to embrace, but then again, the upscale life isn't any nicer: Karma's posh apartment is taken by a con man, her oh-so-cleverly-named ex-manager Prighorn (Joe Grifasi) is hard at work soliciting sexual favors from his shallow staff and the girl behind the counter at the classy, Starbucks-look-alike is cold and unsympathetic. Predictably, the atmosphere of the coffee bar arbitrarily changes when Karma begins to embrace it, which is a cheap trick.
Though the production values are dire, the film’s most grievous error is that it’s only about karma in the most peripheral sense of the word. Aside from some coincidental touches, there's no real sense that cause-and-effect turns Karma's life upside down, nor that it helps her to put it back together.
Believe it or not, it sucks to be so cruel to a movie with good intentions, but Creating Karma is a film that thinks lines like "I'm like a fine wine, I take my time" and "Ivana? I wanna!" are comically sound enough to inflict upon innocent, unsuspecting audiences, a film that delivers all performances at a painful pitch that borders on hysteria, a film where any intended philosophy or deeper meaning is a total sham. When push comes to shove, even an audience desperately starved for female-centric comedy that also thinks the pun in the title is the funniest thing they've ever heard (get it? Her name's Karma and she goes on a journey of self-discovery!) should avoid this depressingly inept mess.
Distributor: Independent
Cast: Karen Lynn Gorney, Carol Lee Sirugo, Jill Wisoff, Joe Grifasi and Roland Sands
Director/Producer: Jill Wisoff
Screenwriters: Jill Wisoff and Carol Lee Sirugo
Genre: Comedy
Rating: Unrated
Running time: 89 min.
Release date: October 16 LA
10 Comments
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JILl Wisoff said:
Sorry you didn't like the film Tyler. It is a New York farce which does make fun of everything...NY farce has its roots in shtetl and Borscht belt jewish humor and the film, as you did pick up on, does start in upstate NY which is where these hotels and comedians started from if you're not familiar... Jerry Lewis, Jackie Mason on down...the "gift shop t-shirt" you refer to is certain supposed to be blatant in that it puns with the word "borsched" as an actor is portraying a Borscht belt guide in the Catskills in the sixties.
The funny nose you refer to on the rabbi is a Groucho nose the rabbi forgets to take off before he begins orating at a funeral...it's all in fun Tyler.
These are all within character and the world of the genre of this film which is a farce.
In addition you miss the huge message of inclusiveness in this film. It's interesting that you and two male reviewers from out west claim to be upset within a few minutes into this film (one states within five minutes!), interestingly this is the point where Karma's father announces he's giving up women and it's apparent he's fallen in love with the black afro'd sitarist fringed hippie (who later becomes the pop star Rajah) and announces he's out of the closet. None of these reviewers mention this?
The story addresses in large ways Karma's uptight ways until she embraces her father's gay lover as "family"...this is a huge theme in this film which you erroneously mislabel in this film as a relationship between two "bandmates" as he's quite blatantly identified as being in the garment industry in New York on holiday in the Catskills with his wife and child at the time his female mistress is giving birth to Karma; at the time he meets the man of his dreams, who happens to be a musician, and gives up women.
He dies as well during what is an obvious act of love between two men...I'm not sure why you'd miss this and state this relationship is something else when it's a core to the story of this film.
The story itself ergo, which you then miss the emphasis of in this review, is "Creating Karma" is about a woman who "comes out" as a writer...she becomes a poet...as she changes from the causes in her life the EFFECT is she becomes the creator...her father's lover points this out that as a child she was always "creating".
...if you want to make yourself more nuts finding deep meanings in this shallow silly comedy farce film, Tyler, you should have done a lot more investigating on the name of my character "Callie"...the Indian deity Kali is the most worshipped goddess in India, the creator and the destroyer and I could go on all day about this..the statue Karma lugs around left to her by her father is a statue of the black kali...have fun with that.
In any case, this film is a broad comedy, aka farce. To read a review from a reviewer that understands this as genre, please refer to the LA Splash review online that came out yesterday from a reviewer that saw this film with audience...and also, interestingly, I was told this was a woman reviewer who attended our Saturday night screening.
Our large audiences have inevitably been entertained and laughing throughout screenings including the two years on the festival circuit where we did win two best comedy feature awards and were official selections in film festivals including ones that were focused on african american, women and areas of struggle and transition for residents...mirroring the reality of what this character goes through in this time of economic hardship where laughter was our goal...there was no intention on our part to be responsible for deepness, however, in the way these characters behave or the silliness of the lines...this is a broad comedy and the fact that the word "karma" is in its title makes it a bit silly for you to assert in this review that therefore this film had a responsibility to not have silly lines like "Ivana I wanna", shallow characters, or that I shouldn't show coffee bars in depressed neighborhoods with con artists lying around in them waiting to rip off anyone walking in with money and that it's a "cheap trick" that later when she's accepted by these people the the atmosphere changes...don't think we changed anything in our sets between takes so not sure what you are referring to but it sounds good Tyler??????
The film is also a microbudget indie that we were fortunate enough to be invited to screen theatrically with in LA this week which is a hard place to get to for a small film like this and do hope audience out there who enjoys this sort of broad comedy will come out for this picture...Tyler and others who find these sorts of films distressing have a right to that opinion but I must emphasize again this is a broad comedy and wasn't meant to be anything other...after the anguish of 9/11 we who worked on this film felt passionate about making a film that was about overcoming the bad times, bad economy and prejudice about those different from ourselves and the hate generated by this but mostly to make something that would make people laugh about it, as well the artists in Manhattan pushed out by gentrification has been deplorable and to a great extent this film was made in response to that...furthermore, this film does have a message and that IS about inclusiveness and I'm hoping audiences will find that out for themselves.
October 20, 2009 9:43 AM
Bill T. said:
This review is 100% right. Awful movie.
October 21, 2009 6:41 PM
wiseman said:
Actually, it's quite a zany farce about people of different types in NYC's melting pot - A "Hellzapoppin'" comedy that takes a dozen unexpected turns that always keep you laughing!
October 24, 2009 12:16 PM
IKnowItAll said:
I think Ms. Wisoff needs to put down the thesaurus, step away from Final Draft and get a job as a barista at Starbucks.
She is talentless, clueless and a congenital moron.
October 24, 2009 12:48 PM
LOL said:
Invoking 911 is the last bastion of the loser "artiste". If your film is as long and boring as your posting, those pay-to-play festivals you "entered" must've really been lacking in submissions.
October 24, 2009 5:18 PM
ComicBookGuy said:
"The funny nose you refer to on the rabbi is a Groucho nose the rabbi forgets to take off before he begins orating at a funeral...it's all in fun Tyler."
See, Tyler? It's not that no one finds Groucho nose and glasses to be a lame or unfunny joke in the year 2009 - it's your problem, because you obviously don't know what's all in fun!
It's not that plot points regarding the coffee bar are annoying and make no sense - it's the same coffee bar in both scenes, so you obviously didn't understand the movie!
It's not that the film isn't funny - it's a farce, and obviously, you don't get farces!
This director needs to be sealed off from reality and -- oh, wait. She already is.
Worst. Movie. Ever.
October 26, 2009 12:17 PM
Suzy said:
I thought the movie sounded awful from the review. From the director's rebuttal it sounds like a train wreck. Thanks Tyler for another excellent review!
October 30, 2009 5:42 PM
LOL @ Wisoff said:
You say you can go on all day about Kali? I'd very much like to see that. I'm not sure why you want him to do your research for you, and have fun with it.
October 31, 2009 7:06 AM
LAFF said:
When I saw this movie, I vomited up my sushi!
October 31, 2009 3:54 PM
Infidel said:
"...after the anguish of 9/11 we who worked on this film felt passionate about making a film that was about overcoming the bad times, bad economy and prejudice about those different from ourselves and the hate generated by this but mostly to make something that would make people laugh about it, as well the artists in Manhattan pushed out by gentrification has been deplorable and to a great extent this film was made in response to that...
How dare you hide behind the 9/11 attacks to defend your crappy movie!! You should be ashamed of yourself Miss Wisoff. Admit it, your movie sucks and you have no talent.
November 1, 2009 8:41 AM